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City of Columbia City 1840 Second Street,
PO Box 189, Columbia City, OR 97018 (503) 397-4010 |
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City
Council Meeting Minutes
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THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2007
CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF COLUMBIA CITY,
COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON
AGENDA
ITEM 1 CALL TO ORDER/ROLL
CALL:
CONVENED:
Council
President Schmor called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Council President Schmor delivered the
invocation and led the flag salute.
COUNCIL
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Council
President Bob Schmor
Councilor
Bill Guy (by telephone)
Councilor Gary Hudson
Councilor
Tyra Schroeder
COUNCIL
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Mayor Cheryl
A. Young
ALSO
PRESENT:
Micah Olson, Public Works
Superintendent
Leahnette Rivers, City
Administrator/Recorder
ATTORNEY
PRESENT:
Harold
Olsen, City Attorney
A quorum was
present and due notice had been published.
AGENDA
ITEM 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS:
None.
Chief Salle' of the St. Helens Police Department
spoke to the City Council about the Item 6.1 on the Agenda - Intergovernmental
Agreement between the City of St. Helens and other law enforcement providers
within Columbia County, designating a Critical Incident Response Team
(CIRT). Chief Salle' explained that the
CIRT Agreement addresses a special team that is not intended for patrol. He said the team was actually launched on
January 15, 2007, and it has been deployed once. He said the team consists of ten members. He said currently the positions are staffed
by six members of the St. Helens Police Department, one member from the
Scappoose Police Department, one member from the Clatskanie Police Department,
and one member from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. He said there is one vacant position on the
team.
Chief Salle' explained that years ago there was a
burglary going on at the lumber warehouse on the Port Property in Columbia
City. He said a group of police
officers entered the building and took people into custody, and in the process
one of the burglars was shot and a car hit a deputy. He said in that incident now when an officer realizes what type
of call they have, they would activate this team. He said the CIRT team would use a little bit more advanced
tactics and weaponry to secure the perimeter.
He said they would still call the Oregon State SWAT team. He said the SWAT team is a full-service SWAT
team with armored vehicles and people who train 40-hours per week in SWAT
activities. He said the CIRT team
members train 8-hours per month. He
said they are an interim team, and their intent is to secure and stabilize the
event until the SWAT team arrives, and have the ability to react if they are
forced to.
Councilor Hudson said he sees two problems with SWAT
teams - one is that they are not used enough, and they don't have enough
opportunity to have the skills and experience they need in order to exercise
good judgment, and the other is that they are used too much and they create a
culture in which the quicker something is resolved the better, which we can
read about in the paper occasionally.
He said, however, it sounds like this is not a SWAT team that we are
talking about.
Chief Salle' said the CIRT team was created in 1996,
and it has been active since then. He
said the team is significantly underutilized, and the lack of use makes people
rusty and not well practiced in their skills. He said the St. Helens City
Council made a commitment to financially support the team and try to get more
utilization from the team so they stay sharp and on task and well manicured in
their approaches, and they thought they could do that by offering the team
outside of St. Helens because the County generally has enough activity to keep
a team sharp. He said they are now
offering officers from other agencies the opportunity to participate on the
team.
Councilor Hudson asked how much it costs for an
officer to participate on the team.
Chief Salle' said equipment costs for each officer
run about $2,000, and there are also training costs and the commitment of
time. He said the City of St. Helens
provides some of the team's equipment, and may also pick up with training costs
if the agency does not have the funds available.
Chief Salle' briefly discussed the eligibility
requirements and selection process for team members.
AGENDA
ITEM 4 COUNCIL REPORTS:
4.1 Parks
Committee: Chair Schroeder asked if the Columbia
County Community Corrections Crew will be removing the remaining limbs from Jim
Bundy Memorial Park.
Leahnette Rivers said the crew does plan to come
back to finish cleaning up the downed limbs, and the County Parks Department
has agreed to allow them the use of their chipper at no charge.
4.2 Water
Source and Development Committee: Micah
Olson said the well installation is complete, and the next step will be
development. He said they will be
installing a pump in the well to surge it, and then they will conduct a flow
test. Mr. Olson said other well
drillers and the City's hydro geologist were consulted and they have
recommended this as our next approach.
Leahnette Rivers explained that the well driller
attempted to use traditional surging methods to develop the well, but in this
case those methods did not work. She
said he also tried some other methods with his equipment under the $1500
contract change order, but they were not successful. She asked the Council to ratify their decision to approve the
$1500 change order.
MOVED (HUDSON), SECONDED (SCHROEDER) AND CARRIED
UANIMOUSLY TO RATIFY APPROVAL OF THE $1500 CHANGE ORDER FOR THE WELL.
The City Council reviewed a Proposal for Water
Rights Related Services dated March 1, 2007, from Jeff Barry and Eric Collins
of Groundwater Solutions, Inc. The
proposal described the scope of work in detail, which involved the preparation
of a transfer application, an aquifer test evaluation, the preparation of a
groundwater application, and groundwater modeling if necessary. The proposal included an estimated cost of
$4,000 without groundwater modeling, and an additional $3,000 if groundwater
modeling is required.
Council President Schmor asked if we should hold off
on constructing the distribution piping until we have secured our water rights
in case we are not able to get them.
Micah Olson and Leahnette Rivers explained that we
have the right to use 100 gpm from the old public works well, which can easily
be transferred to the new well, and that there are some other options for
securing additional water rights if we cannot get approval for our new water
right. They suggested that the 100 gpm
alone makes this a viable project.
Councilor Guy asked how soon we can get this project
on line. Mr. Olsen said the most recent
construction schedule estimates a finished project in October or November 2007.
No objections about the proposal were heard from the
Council.
Micah Olson suggested we put a pump in the new
40-gpm well and begin to use that water to supplement our current supply. He said that water could be used to supply
the lower end of the City using the existing 100-gpm water right. He said we would tie the water into the
existing line on Third Street and install a 20-foot section of 24-inch pipe to
meet our contact time. He said we could
install some very simple controls for chlorine, and the system could be used as
a backup when the new well is on line.
He said we could save up to $4,000 per month in our wholesale water
charges. He estimated a cost of $12,000
to $20,000 to finish the project, which would include a pump, electrical
controls, valve controls, injection controls, chlorine equipment, fittings,
etc. He estimated the well could be on
line by the end of May.
Leahnette Rivers said we can use the 40-gpm well to
supplement our supply so we stay within our contract limits this summer, and it
will serve as an emergency backup system for us in the future.
MOVED (GUY), SECONDED (HUDSON) AND CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE MICAH OLSON TO PROCEED WITH THE TEMPORARY WELL
CONNECTION FOR SUMMER USE.
Council President Schmor asked about the recent
inspections in Pacific Terrace II Subdivision for thermal expansion tanks and
pressure release valves. Micah Olson
explained that a resident has his toilet break apart from excessive water
pressure. He said the residence was
equipped with a check valve, but did not have a thermal expansion valve in the
garage, which is required to release pressure that occurs in the water
heater. He said it appears as though
all of the homes in the subdivision may need a release valve, so he has sent
letters to each homeowner to bring this problem to their attention.
4.3 Streets
Committee: Chair Hudson said the Street Committee met
on February 20th and discussed the Five Year Capital Improvement Plan. He said they identified "A" Street
and Sixth Street as the two improvement priorities.
4.4 Sewer
Committee: Council President Schmor inquired about the
floats that need to be changed at the "K" Street pump station. Micah Olson said he believes the floats have
just worn out, and they experienced similar problems at the Tahoma lift
stations as well. He said the floats
are about 15 years old.
4.5 Library
Committee: No report.
4.6 Other
reports: None.
AGENDA
ITEM 5 CONSENT AGENDA:
5.1 Written report from the Public Works Superintendent.
5.2 Written report from the City Administrator/Recorder.
MOVED (SCHROEDER), SECONDED (HUDSON) AND CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY BY ROLL CALL VOTE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA.
AGENDA
ITEM 6 UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
6.1 Intergovernmental
Agreement: Intergovernmental
Agreement between the City of St. Helens and other law enforcement providers
within Columbia County, including Columbia City, designating a Critical
Incident Response Team.
MOVED (HUDSON), SECONDED (SCHROEDER) AND CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE SIGNATURE TO THE AGREEMENT.
AGENDA
ITEM 7 NEW BUSINESS:
7.1 Intergovernmental
Agreement: Intergovernmental
Agreement between Columbia County and other governmental entities, including
Columbia City, for the purpose of establishing and supporting a system to
deliver Homeland Security and Emergency Management Services to both County
Departments and Participating Governmental Entities.
Leahnette Rivers explained that this agreement will
provide one or more additional staff members for the Columbia County Emergency
Management Department to assist the County and other governmental agencies
within the County in meeting Homeland Security requirements and assist with
Emergency Manage services. She said
under the Agreement, Columbia City will contribute $3,409 annually to the
County to help fund the position. She
said the County will create a Homeland Security and Emergency Management
Commission and they will audit the use of the contributed funds and oversee the
prioritization of tasks taken on by the Emergency Management staff.
MOVED (HUDSON), SECONDED (SCHROEDER) AND CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE SIGNATURE TO THE AGREEMENT.
7.2 GIS
License Agreement: GIS License
Agreement between Columbia 911 Communications District and other parties,
including Columbia City.
Council President Schmor said this agreement is
difficult to read, and he questioned the need for it. He said he is not in favor of entering into an agreement that he
cannot understand.
Leahnette Rivers explained that the 911
Communications District is entering information into GIS software, and will
provide those "layers" of information to the Mobile Data Terminals we
have in our police cars. She said this
agreement relates to our use of the GIS software and the information it
contains. She offered to invite a
representative from the 911 Communications District to a future Council meeting
to respond to questions.
It was the consensus of the Council that action on
this item be postponed until additional information is received in writing or
from a 911 Communications District representative.
7.5 Petition
to Vacate: Petition for the
Vacation of "K" Street between Third and Fourth Streets, excluding
the Third Place alley.
The Council reviewed a memo dated February 22, 2007,
from Leahnette Rivers explaining that a petition for the vacation of
"K" Street between Third and Fourth Streets, excluding the Third
Place alley, has been received and appears to be complete.
Leahnette Rivers explained that the Council can deny
the petition, but if there appears to be no reason why the petition should not
be allowed in whole or in part, the Council should fix a time for a formal
hearing. She recommended the Council
select 7:30 p.m. on April 5, 2007 as the time for the formal hearing.
The Council discussed the request briefly with
applicants David and Oneata Bundy and Tom and Kelly Davis, who were present in
the audience.
MOVED (GUY), SECONDED (HUDSON) AND CARRIED TO ALLOW
THE PETITION AND DIRECT STAFF TO SET THE HEARING.
7.3 Council
Bill No. 07-429; Resolution No. 07-879-R:
A Resolution adopting Policy Goals and Objectives for the City of
Columbia City, Oregon, for fiscal year 2007-08.
MOVED (SCHROEDER), SECONDED (HUDSON) AND CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 07-429.
7.4 Council
Bill No. 07-430; Resolution No. 07-880-R:
A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Columbia City declaring
its intention to vacate Eighth Street, Eighth Place, and Ninth Street between
Calvin and Franklin Streets, and all of Penn Street west of Seventh Place, in
Columbia City, Oregon, as described in this Resolution.
Councilor Schroeder asked why the City would
initiate this vacation process instead of requiring the filing of a petition,
such as the "K" Street petition under Item 7.5.
Leahnette Rivers explained that several months back
Judy and Bill Dickson attended a City Council meeting and asked the Council if
they would initiate the vacation of the streets and alleys located within the
Dickson property because of the steep slopes, and it was the consensus of the
Council to do so. She said the steep
slopes are such that the streets and alleys could not be developed, and because
of those unusual circumstances they asked the Council to initiate the vacation
process, which is somewhat easier than filing a petition.
Leahnette Rivers noted that the right of ways within
the Dickson property really wouldn't be of much benefit to adjoining properties
because of the steep slopes, while the "K" Street right of way might
be used to serve other properties in the area.
She said in either case the property owners within the "affected
territory" have an opportunity to comment, but in the case of a petition
the owners of 2/3 of the property within the affected territory must consent to
the vacation in writing, and in the case of a Council initiated vacation the
owners of a majority of the property within the affected territory may sign a
petition to stop the vacation process.
Leahnette Rivers said the applicants will still pay
all of the fees associated with the City initiated vacation.
MOVED (SCHROEDER), SECONDED (HUDSON) AND CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 07-430.
7.6 Executive
Session: Executive Session to
consider records that are exempt from public inspection pursuant to ORS
192.660(2)(f); and to consult with legal counsel about litigation likely to be
filed pursuant to ORS 192.660(2)(h).
It was the consensus of the Council that this item
be postponed until the next meeting.
AGENDA
ITEM 8 OTHER BUSINESS:
Complaint for Specific Performance: Harold Olsen said he will be filing the Complaint for Specific
Performance against the Probst Living Trust tomorrow.
Water System:
Harold Olsen said he recently visited Hawaii. He said they took a plane trip and flew over the wet side of the
main island to the City of Hilo, and the pilot pointed out to us that they do
not have a water system. He said it
rains so much that they just collect the water and that serves as their water
system.
AGENDA
ITEM 9 ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to come before the
Council, the meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.